Holding means for pivotally connected parts



Jan. 1, 1935. R. E. WAGNER 1,986,307

HOLDING MEANS FOR PIVOTALL Y CONNECTED PARTS Filed April 26, 1953 N VENTOR B M; m M wi Patented Jan. 1, 1935 HOLDING FOR PIVOTALLYGONNECTED-BARTS x Robert'E. Wagner, Lakewood; Ohio Application April26,1933, Serial No'. 668 ,0 83 i 716i 1 (ClL 21760-) I Thisi-nvention'relates to improvements indevices for maintaining in variousdegrees of separation two pivotally connected parts, such as aschooldesk body and a'lid therefor or a 51 trunk body and a covertherefor, as. More particularly, the invention relates to improvementsin those elements of such deviceswhich permit, when desired, suchpivotally connccted parts to be readily-and quickly closed. The generalobject, therefore,- of the present invention is the provisionof a simpleand im proved device of the character described; which. device enablesthe pivotally connected parts with which it"is associated to. beeasily,xquickly and 's conveniently separated to any desired. extent andto be maintained, when desired; in any desired position of separatiomandthereafter; when desired, to be just as easily, quickly and.conveniently closed all without the necessity of directly manipulatingany of th-e: elements; of;

device- With the foregoing and other objects view which will appear asthe description of the in-' vention proceeds, the: invention resides inthe combination and arrangement. of parts: and in the details ofconstruction hereinatteri described and claimed, it. being understoodthat changes: in the invention as. herein; disclosed can he made withinthe scope of what is claimed, without, departing'from the spirit of theinventiom The invention will be readily understood from the followingdescription thereof, reference be.- ing had to the accompanying drawingin which;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of twopi-votally connected parts in closedposition; said parts having the present. device associated. therewith;Fig 2 a. side. elevation of said partsl maintainedin partly separatedposition bythe present device; Fig. 3.-is a' similar view with saidparts iniull-y separated position; Fig lisv a horizontal sectional viewof said parts, the view'being, on the. line -d, Fig- 2.;- Fig. 5 is. aside elevation ottwo pivotally connected parts maintained in aseparatedposition by the: present device, the elements of. which areassociated with saidparts-in a slightly modifiedmanner; andFig. 6, is aper-- spective view of the several elementsof-theipres ent device inwhatmay be. termed an-.explosion?* arrangement,

In Figs-m l to. 4 inclusive of the accompanyingdrawing are shown two:parts A and B pi-votally connected at 10., The part A, for example may'be a portionqof, the bod-wot a schooludesk; and the: part. B may be a;portion of the lid. ofi-said. desk. or the; part Armay' be aportion ofthesbcxdy movable relative thereto,

of-a: trunk and; the part B maybe a portion of the: cover of said trunk,or said parts may be portions of any other objects with which thepresent invention may be advantageously used.

Either or both. parts may be movable, it being.

only necessary that there be relative movement thereof, and for purposesofillustration only and no sense of limitation", the: part A of Figs. 1.

tor-4 inclusive. stationary and the part3, is Pivotallyconnected to themovable part is; one end portionoff a. suitableprop orbrace bar 11, theother end: portion of which is provided with a tra-nsversely disposedlatch pin- 12. Suitably secured. to the stationary part A, such as 5.:

by. the screws. 13' in the endportions thereof, is a horizontallydisposed latch member 14, here as a. flat sheet metal member providedwith a longitudinally disposed internalslot 15 inwhich the latch pin 12-of the brace bar 11 is movable, said. latch pin havinga forward movementsaid. slot from. the forward end 18- thereof to: the rear end 19-thereof, and a return; movement from said. rear end 19 to saidforwardend 18;] Along the bottom of said latch member slot.- are one: ormore latch pin receiving recesses ZLIt-here being four such recesses inthe embodi-- ment of. the-inventionhereinillustrated.

During. forward movement of said latch pin, which iseflected. byrelative separating movement; of the parts A and B, said pin reaches inturn each. of said. recesses 21 and, if desired, said-j pin may bepermitted to. enter and remain inany one: thereof, the efiect of whichwould be to maintain the parts A and B, through the brace bar 11,1111. aposition of separation. As clearly shown the accompanyingdrawing, thewalls! of each recess. 21' are so formed that. removal of said latch pintherefrom is easily effected by; forward movement of said latch pin butnot by rearward movement thereof, with theresult that said recesses donot interfere with forward movement: of said latch pin in thelatchmember. slot 15 but they do prevent, and quite efiectively so,-return movement of said latch pin in said slot.-

In order to readily permit such return movement of the latch pin 12 fromthe rear end 19 of said latch member slot to the front end 18 thereof,to thereby enable the parts A and B to 50 r be readily closed, whendesired, means is provided for blocking and thereby closing to thelatch; pin 12, when desired, the entrances of said recesses, to therebyenable return movement of said latch. pin ta be readily efiected,without,- the the desired shifting of said member.

larged end portions 26 with suitable slots each having a horizontallydisposed bottom end por: tion 28, a horizontally disposed topend'portion 29, arranged rearwardly of and slightly above the bottom endportion 28, and a rearwardly and upwardly inclined intermediateconnecting portion 30. The particular shape of suchslots enables saidrecess controlling member to be moved forwardly and at the same raisedand to be moved rearwardly withcorresponding lowering thereof." Theraising, of, such member is of such extent that the latch pin receivingrecesses 21 are blocked .and thereby closed, with the result that whensaid mem-.

her -'is in its raised position, as shown in,-

Fig. 3, the latch pin 12 cannot enter any of the recesses 21 and hencereturn movement of saidlatch pin can be easily and conveniently 1effected. Likewise, the lowering of said member.

exposes and thereby opens the entrances-of said recesses, with theresultthat the latch pin 12 is free to enter any of said recesses.

In order to enable said recess .controllirlgmember 25 to be readilyshifted forwardlyjto.

block and thereby close the entrances of the latch member recesses21,.as'shown in Fig. 3, or shifted rearwardly to expose and thereby openthe entrances of said recesses, as shown in Fig. 2, said member isrespectively provided at the rear end of its enlarged front end portionand at the front end of its enlarged 'rear end portion with suitableshoulders gagement with which of the latch pin 12 effects 'When thelatch pin 12 strikes said rear shoulder 36, which is here shown asdownwardly and rearwardly inclined, as it does during the'final part ofeach of its forward movements, said recess controlling member is shiftedrearwardly and raised, to

thereby bring about the blocking and hence the closing of said recesses.1 Likewise, when said latch pin 12 strikes the front shoulder 35, whichshoulder is wardly inclined, as it does during the final part of each ofits return movements, said controlling member is shifted forwardly anddownwardly, thereby unblocking and hence opening the latch membercavities 21. f

In this way, the recesses 21 are always unblocked or open to receivesaid latch pin during forward movements thereof, thereby enabling theparts A and B to be readily separatedwhen-- ever desired and to bereadily maintained, when desired, in any desired position of separation,and are always blocked or closed to said latch" pin during returnmovements thereof, thereby enabling the parts A and B'to be readilyclosed when desired, all without the necessity of manually directlyhandling or manipulating any of the-elements of the present device.

To close the parts A' and B from a separated position thereof, orto'enable said parts'to' be maintained in aless separated position, it ismerely necessary to ,effect full. separation-'v of .member 25, withtheresult that said time sngnny recesses, thereby enabling and 36, theenhere shown as forwardly and up said parts, as shown in Fig. 3, theeffect of which is to bring about full forward movement of the latch pin12 and the rearward and up- 'ward shifting by said latch pin of therecess controlling member 25.- Such shifting of said recess controllingmember effectively blocks and thereby closes the entrances of therecesses 21, thereby permitting the latch pin 12 to be readily returnedto the forwardend 18.01: the latch member slot 15,, and hencepermittingclosing of the parts A and B.- During the final stage of the closingmovement of the parts A and B, the latch pin 12 is completing its returnmovement and a t that time effects a forward and downward shifting ofthe recess controlling recesses are unblocked or opened, so that uponthe next forward -movement of said latch pin, said latch pin is free toenter and remain in any of said the parts A and B to be gmaint'ained inany desired position .of separation, all as will be readily understood.

In Fig. 5 is shown two pivotally connected parts A and B having thepresent device associated therewith ina slightly modified manner. Inthis view, the latch member 14a and the recess -.controlling member 2511are secured to the-movable-partyB, rather than to the stationary part A.Inasmuch as the device functionsin the same way, however, no furtherreference to this'location of its parts isbelieved to be necessary.

In order to insure themaintenance of the recessrcontrolling member ofthe present device in the position to which it is shifted by the bracebar latch pin, particularly if said member is associated with a movablepart, as in Fig. 5, a suitable projectionAO yieldingly engages saidrecess controlling member and by such engagement normally resistsshifting movement thereof. As here shown, said projection is carried bythe'part with which said controlling member is associated, the part A inFigs. 1 to 4 inclusive and in Fig. 6 andthe part B in Fig. 5. Inasmuchas said recess controlling member is of resilient character, saidprojection is here shown asa simple rigid protuberance, although anyother suitable means may be employed to normally resist shiftingmovement of said recess controlling member, if desired.

' Other features of the present invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it relates.

' What I claim is:

1. A device of the character described, comprisingtwo pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andadapted for latching cooperation with said recess'to maintain saidparts'in separated position, and automatically operable means forcontrolling the entrance of said recess to selectively permit or preventcooperation of-saidbrace bar with said recess.

2. A device'of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andadaptedfor latching cooperation with said recess to maintain saidpartsin separated position, and means operable by said brace bar forcontrolling the entrance of said recess to selectively permit or preventcooperation of said brace bar with said recess.

3. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar pivotally connectedthereto, said brace bar being provided with a latch pin adapted forlatching engagement in said recess to maintain said parts in separatedposition, and means operable by said latch pin for controlling theentrance of said recess to selectively permit or prevent said latch pinfrom engagement in said recess.

4. A device of the character described, com-- prising two pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andadapted for latching cooperation with said recess to maintain said partsin separated position, adjustable means for controlling the entrance ofsaid recess to selectively permit or prevent cooperation of said bracebar with said recess, and projecting means engaging said adjustablemeans for normally resisting adjustment thereof.

5. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andadapted for latching cooperation with said recess to maintain said partsin separated position, adjustable means for controlling the entrance ofsaid recess to selectively permit or prevent cooperation of said bracebar with said recess, and a projection having yielding engagement withsaid adjustable means for normally resisting adjustment thereof.

6. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected partsfone of said parts being provided with a latch recess andthe other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto and adaptedfor latching cooperation with said recess to maintain said parts inseparated position, an adjustable member of resilient character forcontrollingthe entrance of said recess to selectively permit or preventcooperation of said brace bar with said recess, and a rigid projectionengaging said adjustable member for normally resisting adjustmentthereof.

7. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, a brace bar pivotally connected to one of said partsand provided with a latch pin, a latch member carried by the other ofsaid parts and provided with a latch pin receiving recess, said patchpin having forward and return movements relative to said latch member,and means movable only during the final part of each of the forwardmovements of said latch pin for closing the entrance of said recessduring each of the I return movements of said latch pin.

8. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, a brace bar pivotally connected to one of said partsand provided with a latch pin, a latch member carried by the other ofsaid parts and provided with a latch pin receiving recess, said latchpin having forward and return movements relative to said latch member,and means movable only during the final part of each of the returnmovements or said latch pin for opening the entrance of said recessduring each of the forward movements of said latch pin.

9. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, a brace bar pivotally connected to one of said partsand provided with alatch pin, a latch member carried by the other ofsaid parts and provided with a latch pin receiving recess, said latchpin having forward and return movements relative to said latch member,and means operable by said latch pin during the final part of each ofsaid movements of said latch pin for controlling the entrance of saidrecess during the initial part of each of said movements of said latchpin.

- 10. A device of the character described, comprising Itwo pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andprovided with a latch pin for latching cooperation with said recess tomaintain said parts in separated position, and adjustable means movableby said latch pin for controlling the entrance of said recess toselectively permit or prevent cooperation of said latch pin with saidrecess, said controlling means being provided with a pair of opposedshoulders for engagement by said latch pin in effecting movement of saidcontrolling means.

11. A device of the character described, comprising two pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being provided with a latch recessand the other of said parts having a brace bar connected thereto andprovided with a latch pin for latching cooperation with said recess tomaintain said parts in separated position, and adjustable means movableby said latch pin for controlling the entrance of said recess toselectively permit or prevent cooperation of said latch pin with saidrecess, said controlling means being provided with a pair ofoppositively inclined shoulders for engagement by said latch pin ineffecting movement of said controlling means.

. ROBERT E. WAGNER.

